C.difficile patients now reach 17

C.difficile mainly affects people aged over 65

A total of 17 people have been infected with Clostridium difficile at a hospital in Moray.

NHS Grampian said that, of those, eight remained on the wards at Dr Gray's Hospital in Elgin.

It was revealed on Wednesday that two elderly people with the C.diff infection had died.

Two wards have been closed to new admissions but health officials said the patients were giving no cause for concern.

The health board said the deaths happened in April and that both the patients had been frail.

An outbreak control team is meeting daily to monitor the situation.

In the short term, patients who would have been admitted to Dr Gray's will be cared for in Aberdeen Royal Infirmary or in Raigmore Hospital, Inverness.

Two patients at Orkney's Balfour Hospital in Kirkwall died at the start of the year - with the infectious disease described as a contributing factor.